Wisconsin governor approves farm truck ID exemption

For truckers traveling through
Wisconsin
,
the sight of a farm truck pulled over for a federal inspection soon will be
even more rare.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill into law Tuesday, Dec. 20, raising the
minimum weight requirement for farm trucks to display a federal identification
number.

The effort was drafted after recent complaints that the Wisconsin State
Patrol was enforcing a federal law requiring a U.S. Department of
Transportation registration number on commercial motor vehicles or towed
vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds.

The rule allows farmers with pickups and trailers, hauling livestock to
local auction markets, to be in violation and subject to a ticket.

The new law, previously AB762, exempts farm trucks or dual-purpose farm
trucks combined with any semitrailer or farm trailer if their gross weight
doesn’t exceed 26,000 pounds from a requirement to obtain a federal ID number.

According to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau,
Wisconsin
is the only Midwestern state the
ID number is an issue. Other state transportation departments focus their
attention solely on commercial carriers and shippers.